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List of most-subscribed YouTube channels

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On the video platform YouTube, a subscriber to a channel is a user who, by selecting that channel's subscribe button, has chosen to receive content released by the channel. Each user's subscription feed consists of videos recently published by channels to which the account is subscribed.[1] The ability to subscribe to users was introduced in October 2005,[2] and the website began publishing a list of its "most subscribed Members" in April 2006.[3]

An early archive of the list dates to May 2006, at which time Smosh, with fewer than three thousand subscribers, occupied the number one position.[4] Since then, at least ten other YouTube channels have possessed the platform's largest subscriber count; these include Judson Laipply, Brookers, geriatric1927, lonelygirl15, Ryan Higa, Fred, Ray William Johnson and PewDiePie. The most-subscribed channel as of January 2022 is T-Series, an Indian music video publisher operated by the entertainment company of the same name. With a subscriber count of 206 million, the channel has held this distinction since April 14, 2019.

Most-subscribed channels

The Indian music video channel T-Series[5] is the most-subscribed YouTube channel, with 206 million subscribers as of January 2022.[6]
The Indian Entertainment Channel SET India is the most-subscribed Entertainment YouTube channel, with 125 million subscribers as of January 2022.[6]
Swedish Let's Player and web comedian PewDiePie[7][8] is the most-subscribed individual user on YouTube,[9][10] and the fourth most-subscribed YouTube channel overall, with 111 million subscribers as of January 2022.[6]

The following table lists the fifty most-subscribed YouTube channels,[A][6] as well as the primary language and content category of each channel. The channels are ordered by number of subscribers; those whose displayed subscriber counts are identical are listed so that the channel whose current growth rate indicates that its displayed subscriber count will exceed that of the other channel is listed first. Automatically-generated channels that lack their own videos (such as Music and News) and channels that have been made effectively obsolete as a result of the transferral of their content (such as JustinBieberVEVO and RihannaVEVO)[B] are excluded. As of January 2022, 21 of the 50 channels listed primarily produce content in English while 15 primarily produce content in Hindi.

Rank Channel Link Subscribers
(millions)
Primary
language(s)
Content
category
Country Brand channel
1 T-Series Link 208 Hindi[11][12] Music  India Yes
2 Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes Link 129 English Education  United States Yes
3 SET India Link 127 Hindi[13] Entertainment  India Yes
4 PewDiePie Link 111 English[14][15] Gaming  Sweden
5 MrBeast Link 90.5 Entertainment  United States
6 Kids Diana Show Link 90.4 Film  Ukraine Yes
7 Like Nastya Link 86.9 English[16] Entertainment  United States [citation needed]
8 WWE Link 85.7 English[17][18] Sports  United States Yes
9 Zee Music Company Link 81.5 Hindi[19][20] Music  India Yes
10 Vlad and Niki Link 78.7 English Entertainment  Russia
11 5-Minute Crafts Link 75.6 How-to  Cyprus[a] Yes
12 Blackpink Link 72.3 Korean Music  South Korea Yes
13 Justin Bieber Link 67.6 English  Canada
14 Goldmines Link 66.2 Hindi Film  India Yes
15 Canal KondZilla Link 65.4 Portuguese Music  Brazil Yes
16 HYBE LABELS Link 64.2 Korean Music  South Korea Yes
17 BANGTANTV Link 64.1 Yes
18 Sony SAB Link 63.4 Hindi Entertainment  India Yes
19 Zee TV Link 61.3 Yes
20 Shemaroo Filmi Gaane Link 57.6 Music Yes
21 Dude Perfect Link 57.2 English Sports  United States
22 Movieclips Link 56 Film Yes
23 Pinkfong! Kids' Stories & Songs Link 55.7 Education  South Korea Yes
24 Marshmello Link 54.7 Music  United States
25 ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs Link 54.4 Hindi[22] Education  India Yes
26 Ed Sheeran Link 51.1 English[23] Music  United States
27 EminemMusic Link 50.9
28 Ariana Grande Link 50.8
29 Wave Music Link 50.6 Bhojpuri  India Yes
30 Colors TV Link 49.9 Hindi Entertainment Yes
31 Aaj Tak Link 49.8 News Yes
32 Sony Music India Link 49.7 Music Yes
33 Tips Official Link 49 Music Yes
34 LooLoo Kids - Nursery Rhymes and Children's Songs Link 48.2 English  United States Yes
35 El Reino Infantil Link 48 Spanish  Argentina Yes
36 T-Series Bhakti Sagar Link 48 Hindi  India Yes
37 Taylor Swift Link 45.7 English  United States
38 Badabun Link 45.4 Spanish Entertainment  Mexico
39 JuegaGerman Link 45.2  Chile
40 Billie Eilish Link 44.7 English Music  United States
41 Fernanfloo Link 44.5 Spanish Gaming  El Salvador
42 YRF Link 44.4 Hindi Music  India Yes
43 Felipe Neto Link 43.7 Portuguese Entertainment  Brazil
44 whinderssonnunes Link 43.6 Comedy
45 HolaSoyGerman. Link 43.2 Spanish Entertainment  Chile
46 BRIGHT SIDE Link 42.9 English  Cyprus[a] Yes
47 Katy Perry Link 42.4 Music  United States
48 Você Sabia? Link 42.3 Portuguese Entertainment  Brazil
49 Alan Walker Link 41.3 English Music  Norway
50 Infobells - Hindi Link 41.4 Hindi Education  India Yes
as of January 21, 2022
  1. ^ a b TheSoul Publishing is currently based in Cyprus; it was originally based in Russia and is still Russian-owned.[21]

Historical progression of most-subscribed channels

The following table lists the 19 distinct runs as the most-subscribed YouTube channel recorded since May 2006. Only runs lasting at least 24 hours are included.

  Former record
  Current record
Channel name Date achieved Days held Reference
Smosh May 17, 2006 18 [4][24]
Judson Laipply June 4, 2006 29 [25][26][27]
Brookers July 3, 2006 45 [28][29][30]
geriatric1927 August 17, 2006 26 [31][32]
lonelygirl15 September 12, 2006 226 [33][34][35][36]
Smosh April 26, 2007 517 [24][37]
nigahiga September 24, 2008 12 [38][39]
FЯED October 6, 2008 318 [39][40]
nigahiga August 20, 2009 677 [38][41][42]
Ray William Johnson June 28, 2011 564 [43][44][45]
Smosh January 12, 2013 215 [24][46][47]
PewDiePie August 15, 2013 2050 [48][49]
T-Series[C] March 27, 2019 5 [53][55]
PewDiePie April 1, 2019 13 [54][56][57]
T-Series April 14, 2019 1918 [58][59]
As of 14 July 2024 UTC

Timeline

Timeline of the most-subscribed YouTube channels (May 2006 – present)

T-Series (company)PewDiePieRay William JohnsonFred FigglehornRyan Higalonelygirl15Peter OakleyBrooke BrodackJudson LaipplySmosh

Milestones and reactions

Channel Subscriber milestone Date achieved Reference
Brookers 10,000 July 7, 2006 [60]
geriatric1927 20,000 August 18, 2006 [61]
lonelygirl15 50,000 October 23, 2006 [62]
Smosh 100,000 May 15, 2007 [63]
FЯED 1 million April 7, 2009 [64]
nigahiga 2 million March 13, 2010 [65]
RayWilliamJohnson 5 million November 15, 2011 [66]
Smosh 10 million May 25, 2013 [67]
PewDiePie 20 million January 9, 2014 [68]
50 million December 8, 2016 [69]
T-Series 100 million May 29, 2019 [70]
200 million November 30, 2021 [71]

Following the third time that Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel, Ray William Johnson collaborated with the duo.[72] A flurry of top YouTubers including Ryan Higa, Shane Dawson, Felix Kjellberg, Michael Buckley, Kassem Gharaibeh, the Fine Brothers, and Johnson himself, congratulated the duo shortly after they surpassed Johnson as the most-subscribed channel.[73]

PewDiePie vs T-Series

In mid-2018, the subscriber count of the Indian music video channel T-Series rapidly approached that of Swedish web comedian and Let's Player PewDiePie, who was the most-subscribed user on YouTube at the time.[74][75] As a result, fans of PewDiePie and T-Series, other YouTubers, and celebrities showed their support for both channels. During the competition, both channels gained a large number of subscribers at a rapid rate, and surpassed each other's subscriber count on multiple occasions in February, March, and April 2019.[50][51][52][54] T-Series eventually permanently surpassed PewDiePie, and on May 29, it became the first channel to gain 100 million subscribers.[70]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The total number of channels listed may exceed fifty if a tie exists for the fiftieth-highest subscriber count.
  2. ^ These are not to be mistaken for the channels Justin Bieber and Rihanna, both of which are included.
  3. ^ T-Series surpassed PewDiePie in subscriber count on numerous occasions, each lasting fewer than 24 hours, from February to late March 2019.[50][51][52] The first incident to last at least 24 hours began on March 27 and ended on April 1.[53][54]

References

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